The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 4,971 and the number of cases climbed to 1,73,763 in the country registering a record single-day spike of 265 deaths and 7,964 cases till Saturday 8 am, according to the Union health ministry.

India is the ninth worst-hit nation by the Covid -19 pandemic.

The number of active Covid -19 cases stood to 86,422 while 82,369 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, it said. In the last 24 hours, 11,264 patients have recovered.

'Thus, around 47.40 per cent patients have recovered so far,' a senior health ministry official said.

The total confirmed cases includes foreigners.

Of the 265 deaths reported since Friday morning, 116 were in Maharashtra, 82 in Delhi, 20 in Gujarat, 13 in Madhya Pradesh, nine in Tamil Nadu, seven in West Bengal, four each in Telangana and Rajasthan, two in Punjab and one each in Chhattisgarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

Of the total 4,971 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 2,098 deaths followed by Gujarat (980), Delhi (398,) Madhya Pradesh (334), West Bengal (302), Uttar Pradesh (198), Rajasthan (184), Tamil Nadu (154), Telangana (71) and Andhra Pradesh (60).

The death toll reached 48 in Karnataka, 42 in Punjab, 28 in Jammu and Kashmir, 19 in Haryana, 15 in Bihar, eight in Kerala, and seven in Odisha.

Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand have registered five Covid -19 fatalities, Chandigarh and Assam have recorded four deaths each, while Meghalaya and Chhattisgarh have reported one COVID-19 fatality each so far.

More than 70 per cent of the deaths are due to comorbidities, the ministry said.

According to the health ministry data updated in the morning, the highest number of confirmed cases in the country are from Maharashtra at 62,228 followed by Tamil Nadu at 20,246, Delhi at 17,386, Gujarat at 15,934, Rajasthan at 8,365, Madhya Pradesh at 7,645 and Uttar Pradesh at 7,284

The number of Covid -19 cases has gone up to 4,813 in West Bengal, 3,376 in Bihar, 3,436 in Andhra Pradesh, 2,781 in Karnataka, 2,425 in Telangana, 2,197 in Punjab, 2,164 in Jammu and Kashmir and 1,723 in Odisha.

Haryana has reported 1,721 coronavirus cases, Kerala has 1,150 cases, Assam has 1,024, Jharkhand has 511, Uttarakhand has 716, Chhattisgarh has 415, Himachal Pradesh has 295, Chandigarh has 289, Tripura has 251, Ladakh has 74 and Goa has 69.

Manipur has reported 59 Covid-19 cases, Puducherry has 51 instances of infection while Andaman and Nicobar Islands has registered 33 infections.

Meghalaya has registered 27 cases, Nagaland has reported 25 infections, Arunachal Pradesh have reported three cases, Dadar and Nagar Haveli has two cases while Mizoram and Sikkim have reported a case each till how.

'5,043 cases are being reassigned to states,' the ministry said on its website adding, 'Our figures are being reconciled with the ICMR.'

State-wise distribution is subject to further verification and reconciliation, it said.

15 new cases detected in Nashik; tally at 1,166

At least 15 more persons tested positive for Covid-19 in Maharashtra's Nashik district, taking the case count to 1,166 in the region, an official said on Saturday.

According to a statement issued by the district administration, reports of 15 suspected patients came out positive late on Friday night.

The district's Covid-19 tally now stands at 1,166, of which Malegaon has recorded 763 cases, followed Nashik city at 179 and 168 reported from other parts of the region, the release stated.

As many as 56 infected persons from outside the district were also treated at hospitals here.

96 more test positive in Odisha; tally 1,819

As many as 96 more people tested positive for Covid-19 in Odisha on Saturday, taking the state's tally to 1,819, a health department official said.

The fresh cases were reported from 18 districts and the new patients had returned from worst-hit states and were placed under institutional quarantine, he said.

Of the new cases, 10 each were reported from Kendrapara and Gajapati districts, nine from Khurda, seven each from Bhadrak, Bolangir and Sundergarh, six each from Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Ganjam and Jajpur, five from Kalahandi, four each from Deogarh, Nuapada and Balasore, two from Dhenkanal and one each from Puri, Nayagarh and Keonjhar.

The number of active cases now stands at 833 while 977 patients have recovered. Seven people have died of the disease, the official said.

36-year-old-man dies in Kerala, toll now 9

A 36-year-old man, who returned from the UAE, has succumbed to the coronavirus infection at the Alappuzha medical college hospital, taking the total Covid-19 fatalities in the state to nine, official sources said on Saturday.

'The man was under quarantine after he returned to the state from Abu Dhabi on May27.He did not have symptoms of Covid-19, but had liver ailment and vomittedblood before he passed away by noon on Friday.

His samples were taken and sent for testing and he was found positive,' the sources said.

Another Gulf returnee, a 62-year-old-man, who was in quarantine, died at a hospital in Thalassery today.

His sample, which was tested, was found negative for the infection, Kannur district medical sources said.

On Friday, 62 people, including a health worker, two cabin crew of Air India Express and two prisoners, had tested postivefor the virus,taking the total tally of infections in the stateto 1150.

Sunday curfew relaxed in Karnataka

The Karnataka government on Saturday eased the norm of curfew on Sundays while retaining the order of lockdown from 7 pm to 7 am in view of coronavirus.

In the beginning of the fourth phase of lockdown from May 19, the state government had ordered that total lockdown would be enforced throughout the day on Sundays to contain Covid-19 in the state.

Last Sunday, a day prior to Eid-ul-Fitr, it was implemented across the state.

In the state capital, the curfew was imposed from Saturday evening itself.

131 fresh cases in AP; tally touches 3,461

Andhra Pradesh reported 131 new cases of Covid-19, including 61 from other states, on Saturday, taking the gross to 3,461.

According to the government bulletin, Covid-19 cases in AP were only 2,944 while the remaining 517 were foreign returnees and those from other states.

In the last 24 hours ending 9 am on Saturday, 70 cases were added within the state while another 61 came from other states, the bulletin said.

Of the 2,944 cases reported in the state, only 792 were active as 2,092 patients got cured and discharged and another 60 died.

In the last 24 hours, 55 patients got discharged while no fresh deaths were reported.

Migrant workers on their way back home to Odisha from Chennai pass through Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh PTI file picture